Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The Tewaaraton Foundation named its five men's and women’s Tewaaraton Award finalists on Thursday afternoon.
On the men's side:
Trevor Baptiste, Denver
Connor Fields, Albany
Matt Rambo, Maryland
Ben Reeves, Yale
Patrick Spencer, Loyola
On the women’s side:
Nadine Hadnagy, Maryland
Olivia Hompe, Princeton
Marie McCool, North Carolina
Kylie Ohlmiller, Stony Brook
Zoe Stukenberg, Maryland
The men’s list features Reeves, the only player who was honored as a finalist for last year's Tewaaraton Award. Also notable, Trevor Baptiste is the third Denver player in as many years to make the final cut, joining Wes Berg (2015) and Connor Cannizzaro (2016).
Maryland highlighted the women’s list with two finalists for the fifth consecutive year. Hadnagy was the lone defensive player on either list of finalists. Winners will be announced on June 1 at the Tewaaraton Award Ceremony in Washington D.C.
2. Albany's Connor Fields was cleared to practice this week after taking a hit to the head in the Great Danes' America East title game last weekend. He will be available for Albany's Ford Field sellout against the defending champion North Carolina Tar Heels. Albany fans took a collective sigh of relief because, without Fields, it would have lost approximately 20 percent of its offense.
It's the first NCAA tournament home game for Albany since 2007, and the demand has been enough to possibly warrant opening up standing room only to boost the attendance to more than 10,000.
“There will be parts of this game when the players can’t hear us on the field," said coach Scott Marr, "At some points, we’ll tell them what we want, and we’ll pretty much put it in the hands of the kids.”
PHOTO BY PEYTON WILLIAMS
After a slow start this season, North Carolina's Chris Cloutier has risen to the occasion, leading the Tar Heels to the ACC tournament title.
3. North Carolina’s Chris Cloutier made his mark last postseason, scoring nine goals in a final four win over Loyola, then scoring the championship-winning goal to lift his team to the national title over Maryland. After a slow start to the 2017 season, Cloutier led his team to the ACC tournament victory.
Cloutier has become North Carolina’s go-to man when it needs him the most. But there’s more to him than scoring big goals. The junk food-loving, blue-collar product of Kitchener, Ontario, Cloutier keeps it light.
“When I’m having fun, that’s when I’m at my best,” Cloutier said. “It’s pretty simple.”
4. Utah is experiencing the rising of a second generation of lacrosse players. Thanks to the work of Westminster coach Mason Goodhand and his former player, Colin Madsen, the sport is continuing to grow at a rapid pace in Utah.
Goodhand, who started the chapter in 1996, has seen participation grow to as high as 500 youth boys’ leagues in the state. He’s bought into US Lacrosse’s Athlete Development Model, which curbs the problem of filling a 10v10 league.
“We’re on the cusp of a couple very significant breakthroughs,” Goodhand said.
5. The NLL announced that it's extending the Champion’s Cup schedule well into June. The league said it hoped to give teams an extra week for promotion before the Champion’s Cup Finals, which begin June 2.
“Extending the playoff schedule one week is a simple, yet important change. It aligns with our ongoing expansion and evolution as a top professional league and is consistent with our strategy to elevate the NLL, our teams, our players and our fans,” said NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz.
The extension of the NLL postseason could open the discussion over the league’s overlap with the MLL. Any players participating in the Champion’s Cup won’t be available for the MLL season until mid-June.